Luckie's Tail
The Ice Breaker
Luckie stayed at the vet’s for a few days and started to eat a bit on her own. They offered her baby food to start, and her favorite was lamb. They said we could take her home if we came in and learned how to administer subcutaneous fluids which she would need every day for awhile. Subcutaneous fluids are administered under the skin by injection. They are used to keep the cat hydrated.
We went in after work, very excited to have Luckie coming home. Kelly, a bright, friendly tech set us up in an exam room to learn how to do the fluids. Renée held the fluid bag, I held the cat and Kelly began to demonstrate where to insert the needle. Everything was fine...until Kelly realized that the fluids weren't going in. She removed the needle to find that it had gotten bent and was preventing proper administration. Did I mention that I'm not so good with needles? I really thought that it would be okay. It was just fluids, no blood involved; it was something that many people did for their pets. As Kelly was fixing the needle and getting ready to try again, I started to get that "you'd better sit down before you faint" feeling. But I was holding the cat. I couldn't just let her go. As this debate was going on in my head, I lost the battle and the next thing I was aware of was Renée yelling my name in my face and someone in the distance saying "Call an ambulance!" I believe my first words were "Don't call an ambulance". Kelly had grabbed Luckie and run her out back and Renée had tried to break my fall. The floors in those veterinary clinics are damned hard! I had hit my head, but other than that, I was unharmed...Well, except for my ego which was severely bruised as it seemed that every employee of AVC was standing around me in that little exam room watching me as I sat on the floor. The EMTs arrived and checked me out and pronounced me okay. I was provided with water to drink and some candy to eat and Dr. McClellan told us not to worry about it...that AVC would give Luckie fluids daily . All we had to do was bring her in every day. Sweet!
The whole event was a real ice breaker and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A professional, trained in the care of animals was laying hands on Luckie every day for those first few weeks, and regularly for six months--although the frequency decreased. I got to know everyone at AVC very well during those first few weeks and felt very at home there.